Hitachi, Ltd. and ケーエスケー completed a PoC for the digitalisation of pharmaceutical deliveries at the end of September 2026, reducing the workload involved in covering deliveries during staff shortages by 60%. The system is scheduled to begin operating sequentially at ケーエスケー’s branches from November 2026.
The PoC used Hitachi’s logistics solution, Hitachi Digital Solution for Logistics (HDSL), to validate the Point Dynamic feature, which dynamically reorganises delivery routes when staff shortages occur. This enabled the development of an operating model that automatically reallocates deliveries to other routes when sales staff, who previously covered deliveries during staff shortages, are unavailable. A system was established to maintain fixed routes under normal conditions and activate the optimisation engine to switch routes when a staff shortage is detected.
A mechanism for reconciling receipt data and moving to paperless processes was also tested. At the time of delivery to hospitals and pharmacies, NFC card scans were used to reconcile receipt information and automatically capture audit-trail data, with the aim of reducing administrative workload. This also helps prevent impersonation and erroneous receipt.
Going forward, the system is scheduled to begin operating sequentially at ケーエスケー’s branches from November 2026, with the company planning to establish the Point Dynamic and NFC electronic receipt functions in day-to-day operations. It also aims to realise an autonomous supply chain by linking order and resource information in the delivery operations with warehouse work information and exploring the use of physical AI.